Superintendent's legal counsel recommendation prevails over board member's objections

After they cited conflicting policies, superintendent David Lewis’ recommendation to appoint the Muscogee County School Board’s next legal counsel prevailed over the objections of District 8 representative Frank Myers.

In a 6-2 vote Monday night, the board approved the hiring of Hall Booth Smith PC, a regional law firm with offices throughout the Southeast, including Columbus. It is one of the firms where lawyers from the school district’s current legal counsel, Hatcher, Stubbs, Land, Hollis & Rothschild, will work as of Jan. 1, when Hatcher Stubbs officially breaks up.

Hatcher Stubbs has been MCSD’s lone legal counsel in the 65-year history of the school district. The Hatcher Stubbs lawyers who have been doing the bulk of the legal work for MCSD, Greg Ellington, Melanie Slaton and Chuck Staples, are among those moving to Hall Booth.

Myers cited a board policy that says “legal counsel shall be appointed by the board,” but Lewis cited another board policy that says the appointment shall come “upon the recommendation of the superintendent.”

“Tonight, we finally have the chance to end the string of nearly seven decades of no-bid contracts when it comes to legal counsel,” Myers said. “I’m sorry for all you folks who thought I had a problem with Hatcher Stubbs. Tonight, you get to find out I didn’t. I have a problem with no-bid contracts generally, and I certainly have a problem with no-bid legal contracts. Back to this process, how can you come up with any other conclusion but that this was a rigged system, a rigged pick?”

Lewis tried to respond, but Myers continued.

“I’m not going to let you interject because I have the floor,” Myers told Lewis. “When I get finished, you can have all the time you want.”

Myers also asserted it would be cheaper for the school district to hire an in-house counsel, and he criticized Lewis for not seeking a bid from a minority law firm after doing so for architects.

Lewis eventually countered all of Myers’ accusations.

The recommendation wasn’t a no-bid contract, the superintendent contends. Lewis said his selection is the result of asking other law firms to vie for the appointment. He convened a committee of district administrators whose jobs require them to often use legal services: student services chief Melvin Blackwell, chief financial officer Theresa Thornton, Tracy Fox of risk management, interim chief of facilities and operations David Goldberg, Mary Lewis of special education and human resources chief Kathy Tessin.

After interviewing five law firms, Lewis said, the committee determined Hall Booth offers the best service at the best price. Hall Booth will charge the school district an hourly rate of $165 for work by partners and $115 for work by associates at the firm. Those are the same rates Hatcher Stubbs has charged the district. They also are substantially cheaper than the rates offered by the other interviewed firms, which ranged from $225 to $275 or $280 per hour, Lewis said.

Myers asked Lewis to name the other law firms the committee interviewed, but the superintendent declined. “I don’t know that it would be appropriate,” Lewis said.

As for in-house counsel, Lewis referred to the January 2014 report from Hanover Research of Washington, which the board approved hiring in October 2013 for $90,000 over three years in lieu of filling a position in the research and evaluation department. Lewis used the report then to support his recommendation to retain Hatcher Stubbs. In the report, Hanover Research concluded:

“While very few districts in Georgia and Alabama employ in-house counsels due to their higher sticker price, districts that do report long-term cost savings from risk prevention/management as well as time savings due to risk management and less red tape. Districts considering an in-house counsel should be aware that additional outside legal services must often be procured on top of in-house capabilities when legal expertise in a particular area is required.”

The Hanover report, however, equivocated about its own “accuracy and completeness” and didn’t identify any of its sources.

And as for seeking minority law firms to bid on the district’s legal services, Lewis reminded Myers, “The last I checked, Melanie Slaton is an African-American woman.”

Slaton stood amid the laughter in the audience, waved and said, “Hello.”

Board vice chairwoman Pat Hugley Green of District 1 took time to explain the board’s role. “The only person that works for us is the superintendent,” she said. “You don’t micromanage him. We are policymakers. That’s it. If he brings a recommendation to the board, we vote it up or down.”

Myers made a motion, seconded by John Thomas of District 2, to table Lewis’ recommendation for another month to explore more options. Myers asked board chairman Rob Varner of District 5 for a roll-call vote. Naomi Buckner of District 4 asked why, and Myers said, “It’s called accountability.”

Buckner responded, “Everybody here is going to be accountable.”

Varner noted all the votes are public and asked the board members to raise their hands. Myers’ motion to table the recommendation failed 2-6, with Thomas his lone supporter.

Then the board voted electronically 6-2 to approve the recommendation, with Myers and Thomas the lone opposition.

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 12:20 AM with the headline "Superintendent's legal counsel recommendation prevails over board member's objections."